I have had IBS issues ALL of my life. Several years ago I was diagnosed with "Atypical Crohn's". What that means I really don't know. I just had another colonoscopy on Friday and there was NO inflammation, just some odd red areas that were more irritation and not inflammation. Biopsies come back in about 10 days so I will know further. But, the odd part of this is that my other four colonoscopies showed heavy inflammation throughout the entire colon and THIS ONE did not show any inflamm. I have been taking Valtrex for about one month and wonder if it is at all possible that the Valtrex has played any sort of role in the lack of inflammation.

About a year after the onset of CFS symptoms, I developed gastric symptoms and was examined by a respected local gastroenterologist. He diagnosed chronic ulcerative colitis.

A month later I was similarly examined by the head of gastroenterology at the UCLA Medical Center and I was told then that I definitely did not have chronic ulcerative colitis (a condition which doesn’t just “go away”).

The doctor at UCLA said that the tissues were mildly inflamed and unusually “friable” (easily damaged). He asked if I had been out of the country (I had not), which I took to mean that he suspected “traveler’s diarrhea.”

He could not explain the earlier diagnosis and seemed to think that the condition should resolve itself, even though I’d had it for several months. He also could not relate the condition to my other CFS symptoms (not too surprising since this was 1984).

Of course, your situation could be quite different from mine, but it certainly sounds eerily familiar. Good luck!

Forbin: Thanks for responding. I believe Crohn's is one of those diseases that does not just "go away". I also had a very loud heart murmur pre-CFIDS in my late 20's that three different doctors were very concerned about. I went to a cardiologist and he pronounced it as Mitral Valve Prolapse. About ten years later I went to another cardiologist to see what was going on with the valve since my maternal grandmother had died in her early 40's from a destroyed Mitral Valve (back in the 1940's before they could replace them). The cardiologist tried everthing to get a heart murmur out of me including bending over, bending backwards, sitting, standing, etc. NO HEART MURMUR was found. The cardiologist said that heart murmurs do NOT just go away. Well, I had been taking Magnesium with Malic Acid for my CFIDS/FM and I do believe that MY heart murmur may well have been caused by a deficiency of Magnesium. That was the only thing I could come up with to explain how I would go from having a loud and disturbing (to the three doctors) heart murmur to NO heart murmur at all. Go figure.

I just find it very odd that there was no inflammation at all given that my whole life has been spent with IBS issues and then the Crohn's diagnosis. The Crohn's photos of the colon showed a real mess even to the uninformed eyes of a layperson. The photos taken on Friday showed a nice, normal looking tissue, as noted by the doctor. So, could it be the Fish Oil that I take when I remember? Could it be the Valtrex that somehow has some sort of anti-inflamm properties? Who knows. The meds they gave me to knock me out on the table during the procedure didn't work but instead made me far more aware and alert and of course I did NOT shut up but kept pestering the doctor and the nurse with many questions. The meds actually did not begin to make me tired until about an hour AFTER the procedure. Got to love having a disease that breaks all the "rules" of medicine.

Congratulations on getting a clean colonoscopy ... I had a similar experience. My gastroparesis, hiatal hernia, diverticuli, celiac disease and my hemerroids (sp?) were all gone the last time I had an EGD and a colonoscopy. I also didn't have any colon polyps this time. The way I understand this is that if we stop damaging our bodies and feed it the nutrients it needs it may be able to heal itself. I'd been on the elimination diet for 17 months when this was done and was feeling much better.